Bare-Bones Katana?

Lycosa

Lycosa

Joined
Aug 24, 2007
Messages
43,271
I'm looking for a reasonably priced Bare-Bones user Katana with a 24 or 26 inch blade. Would someone point me in the right direction? Thanks.
 
Define "reasonably priced". Also, what are your plans for the sword? Backyard cutting? Do you plan to take a class in the art?

Do you want something through-hardened(slightly more prone to dulling, but considerably more durable should you botch a cut), or differentially-hardened(remains sharper, but has a higher probability of edge chipping).

Chenness has decent Shinken. They pretty much cater towards the beginning practitioner who cannot afford something nicer, but still requires something functional. They have various models.

Kris Cutlery has received ecxellent reviews over the years, and have only been getting better. They are great for the price, and I believe are all differentially-hardened. A quick etch or polish will usually bring out the Hamon quite nicely.

Hanwei carries Paul Chen, which are also good for the price. There are several levels of production, ranging from the Practical Katana(low end, some plastic fittings, all epoxied together), all the way up to high-end production pieces which will cost you out the butt.


SBG(Sword Buyers Guide) forum has a customizable Katana for sale somewhere. I've heard it's a decent blade, and you get a pretty good range of fittings to mix and match. For $300(us), you could do MUCH worse.
http://sbg-sword-store.sword-buyers-guide.com/custom.html
 
HR---Thanks for the reply and the link! $300. was my reasonable price. Now, I will design a Katana! Thanks Again!
Rolf
 
Hanwei is Paul Chen. I might recommend their practical performance-series pieces. MSRP is only around $289 and you have a choice of blade styles.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Hanwei is Paul Chen. I might recommend their practical performance-series pieces. MSRP is only around $289 and you have a choice of blade styles.
Click to expand...

D'oh. I was thinking of CAS Iberia.



Performance series? You mean the PXLK and the PPXLK?
I've heard good and bad about the XL series. Easy breakage, but those were early in the release, might've been fixed by now. Come to thinkg it it, I think it was the Practical XL Light, specifically.



http://www.hanweishop.com/ should have all current Paul Chen products.
 
Not too surprising that there would have been early reports with failures in the XLTs, as the bohi makes them less tolerant of lateral strain. Combine that with possibly sloppy technique and a slightly sub-par heat-treatment and presto. That being said the current production pieces are phenomenal.

For reference, Hanwei purchased CAS Iberia a while back. They're CAS Hanwei now.
 
The Cheness Tenchi series in 9260 steel is tough to beat for the money.
 
C.A.S. Iberia (Hanwei) makes an incredible Katana Sword. You can check out some of their products for yourself: (( unauthorized advertising ))
 
Last edited by a moderator:
BarkTop said:
C.A.S. Iberia (Hanwei) makes an incredible Katana Sword. You can check out some of their products for yourself: URL DELETED
Click to expand...

I know I'm a "n00b" here, but I'm pretty sure this is against forum rules?
 
Last edited:
I owned a Chisa Katana from Coldsteel once and I loved it, it was just as nice as the Last Legend I owned ( that bent on a pumpkin)
I got the Chisa for $265, that was a couple years ago I think
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top